I have problems with household cleaning chemicals so I definitely wouldn't want to be living in Winnipeg right now. I'm not sure the extent to which melathion is used to combat West Nile...only that it is used in Winnipeg but in New York city they decided that the health risks and environmental risks were too great and stopped using it. Anyone know?

Last edited by Helen on Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ya this topic is bringing up a huge up roar. How I see it, is that the city should be sprayed if the risk of west nile is high. The chemical that they use is little, they spray at night and let the residents know well ahead of time that the spraying will be going on. All people have to do it follow the very simple instructions; keep doors and windows closed.

Speaking of those pesky skeeters alot of people have been going into the ER and doctors because of allergic reactions to mosquitoe bites. I have even noticed this. Normal bites don't bother me, and if I scratch it stays the same (tiny) size. A couple weeks ago if i got bit then the bites would swell up from the size of a nickle and grow very large (very weird). I also noticed once the swelling went down after a few hrs I would have the normal size of the bite marked with a red dot. Then a day or 2 later it will start to get extremely itchy again and start to swell again! .... now thats odd!!!!

I know the mosquitoes must be really really really unbearable in your city, but I don't know that I agree with not giving residents the choice---the spray might not have an affect on most people, but people who are sensitive to chemicals might be in trouble. Plus I worry about the environmental damage--the spray isn't specific to mosquitoes.

Kelly, do you remember which US city was mentioned on the news?

Last edited by Helen on Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

Lisa
The Global news in Canada did it as a tale of two cities:
It was Grand Forks North Dakota that was welcoming the spraying. Winnipeg was the one with the picketers that did not want spraying. I know from that region of North America that the Rivers and all run back towards Canada and they have had major rain this year.
I also have chemical allergies and use only vingear and baking soda for certain household cleaning.
When I was to CFB Shilo my neighbour would phone and warn me about the haying, other harvesting, and the chemical spraying this was 25 years ago. I now am living to Ontario.

firemt : I hope you stop having the rain that is causing all the problems.

Lisa
I just watched a MSN video clip and they did spray in Winnipeg and used melathion.
I phoned my daughter in law ( she is there for the summer) and she said they have been having been spraying there. The clip was on the MSN home page it was a pro and con and they showed a truck spraying in the evening. Kelly

Lisa -
I can see your point of view! It is very concering. I think the city had to spray because of the high threat of west nile virus. Both, anaphylaxis and west nile can lead to death. I would be interested to find out if the city would make accomidations out side of the city for people who cannot tolerate the harsh chemicals. This is a very interesting topic. Not sure how debatable we can be with allergy vs. west nile as both can have negative effects. In todays paper they had a women who became victum to west nile virus ... if you wish you can read it here http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegS ... 0-sun.htmlscary stuff!
I know the city wasn't going to spray and they left it until it was needed. The mosquitoes were bad, but I don't think that was the point of the spraying (well, it was the point, to kill the skeeters that would spread the virus). I do wish that there would be an alternative, something that didn't harm the enviroment and was safe for people with chemical allergies.

Kelly-
Yes, I do hope the rain stops aswell! The rivers are just starting to go down. It's crazy how high they are, and how dangerous (lost one person). The poor farmers aswell. One of my classmates owns a strawberry farm, half of the crop was washed out ... sad. Not only the rain fall, but the storms we have been getting are pretty severe. I swear our last one was like a mini hurricane.... was insane!

I guess it comes down to whether you think that Health Canada is right in saying that melathion is safe at the low levels to which people are exposed...there is some evidence that exposure to pesticides, herbicides etc. over a period of time leads to immune suppression, cancer, hormonal disruption. People with chemical sensitivities might be a warning sign that pesticides do take a toll on human health...other people might not have as extreme of a reaction, but chemical exposure could cause health problems down the road. Lots of things are thought to be safe...and later we find out that they aren't.

I am living in another area in Ontario and we have the skeeters up here. I know Toronto has none that I remeber, especially downtown. The parks can be bad in evening. I am in the Norh East of Ontario presently. We have had the heat and humidity also. It is really unusal. We have had two micro bursts up here in one week a 1000 trees were up rooted. Glad I live a mile from that site. Across the street two were up rooted a few weeks ago. Scary stuff this year.

When I was to out west it was so dry we had sandstorms, completely changed since I lived there 25 years ago. Is this the effects of global warming?

You are right about the smog, it even going up to the Sue this year. That is north of me.
You are correct about the health problems coming from all the chemicals. It is unbelivabe !! Is the chemical sensetivity just a start for humans and wildlife also?

Asfor the heat in cities it from all the roads and the buildings and people, are they not trying to change the color of some of the bigger buildings? The heat does not disapear as it does in country setting.

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